


Gonna Be Just Like You

by xenowhore



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Fluff, Gen, War Boys Showing Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 06:37:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4169703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenowhore/pseuds/xenowhore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Life in the Citadel didn’t leave much room for love, and Nitrus wasn’t even sure he knew what it was, but he would never forget the funny feeling in his chest when Slit found him abandoned with a broken ankle and carried him to the Organic. It had hurt <i>so badly</i>, but somehow with Slit’s big strong hands resting on his shoulders and his deep voice reassuring in his ear, it hadn’t seemed so terrible."</p><p>Nitrus is a war pup with some serious hero worship. One night, he has a nightmare.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gonna Be Just Like You

**Author's Note:**

> Nitrus is six years old and was inspired by my nephew.
> 
> War Boys being affectionate with pups is something that gives me the serious fuzzies and I wanted to explore that.

Nitrus raced through the throng of war pups, pumping his tiny legs as fast as he could. He elbowed smaller boys out of the way and tried his hardest to curb his frustration when the bigger pups blocked his vision.The war boys were returning from the raid and he wanted to watch them arriving. It was a sight to behold, he’d heard. Truly a wonder to see the firecars, the dodges and valiants chewing sand and rolling coal, followed by Elvis and the buggies. So much chrome, the older pups said. Enough that you could go blind looking too long.

Nitrus wanted to be blinded.

Elbowing his way through the crowd fiercely he finally managed to worm his way to the front. He stopped and put his hands on his knees, out of breath for how far he’d ran. He’d made good time though - he hadn’t earned his name for no reason. He wouldn’t miss it this time! He had sprinted through the corridors of the Citadel when he had heard the distant but unmistakable rumble of approaching vehicles, desperate to catch a glimpse of his heroes returning home. Now he stood alongside the others, hands holding onto cables and bracing against walls and one another as all the pups watched excitedly for the boys. Nitrus grinned as he looked down - standing at the edge of the Citadel like this was always exhilarating, and since he’d been old enough to come up here he never missed a chance. Behind the mass of pups the room yawned into a cacophony of activity. Repair boys and parts runners all stood watching and barking orders. Boys and pups alike shielded their eyes as they watched the party getting closer.

At the front of the formation was the coupe, and driving it, as always, was Nux. The turbocharged five window deuce was a beauty and she was fastest in all the Citadel’s fleet. Hanging on casually with one hand to the lancers perch was Slit, and Nitrus’ face split into a grin as he watched the brilliant flames shoot out from the triple exhaust pipes. 

“Here they come!” shouted Lugnut from beside him, his little white hands clenched into excited fists. Nitrus looked over at him and together they grinned, jumping up and down. Lugnut had been a friend to Nitrus for as long as he could remember in his very short life. They were infamous in the Citadel for stirring up massive storms of shit and generally creating havoc everywhere, much to the dismay of the war boys whose job it was to control them. “Think they brought us sumthin’?” Nitrus called over the roar of the cars and bikes as they pulled up. _So loud!_ He closed his eyes for a brief moment as the V8s thundered through his chest. 

“Nuthin’ for you!” Lug shouted, teasing. A brief shoving match ensued. “Shaddup!” Nitrus retorted, brilliant white teeth bared in a savage smile. An older pup smacked the two of them across the back of their heads. “Be quiet!” he chastised, but it was half hearted. The nearer a pup came to graduating to a war boy, the more they tried to reign in their childhoods. Couldn’t be a polecat or a flamer if you hadn’t cut your teeth yet, and certainly not a driver or a lancer.

Nitrus shrugged the other pup off and turned at the sounds of engines below revving down. Soon the war boys would be in the V8 room, hanging their beautiful wheels back up and giving thanks, their nimble fingers entwined gracefully above them in a triangle. Nitrus could not get enough of the wheels, especially Nux’s with it’s chilling totem of a doll’s head wrapped in twine and cable. He would stand at the base of the wall and stare at them in awe, running his little fingers reverently over the shine of them. Some war boys would not tolerate the pups touching them and would smack small hands away with a growl, but not Nux. Nitrus remembered the first time Nux had let him hold his wheel - how he had tried _so hard_ to be ace, silently pleading for the shaking in his arms to _go away_ \- while Nux had laughed and ruffled the top of his head. 

Yes, Nux was the best driver in the Citadel, and he was kind. But Nitrus had hero worship only for one war boy and that was the infamously hot tempered Slit, Nux’s lancer.

Lugnut didn’t understand Nitrus’ fascination. Many of the pups were absolutely _petrified_ of Slit, with his menacing red eye and terrifying face mods. As far as Nitrus was concerned, he thought it was funny that Slit seemed to realize this and would cackle gleefully whenever Slit would snarl at a pup in passing. Slit took a shine to Nitrus when it became apparent that the little pup was a spitfire and had an absolute lack of fear for anything. What started out as a mildly fond tolerance turned into Slit sneaking prize dinner rations to him, letting Nitrus watch him prepare his lancer grenades and sharpen his knife collection. Life in the Citadel didn’t leave much room for love, and Nitrus wasn’t even sure he knew what it was, but he would never forget the funny feeling in his chest when Slit found him abandoned with a broken ankle and carried him to the Organic. It had hurt _so badly_ , but somehow with Slit’s big strong hands resting on his shoulders and his deep voice reassuring in his ear, it hadn’t seemed so terrible. 

Ducking out of site, Nitrus grabbed hold of a thick black cable and swung his legs through a worn hole in the stone wall, releasing the cable and tucking, sliding down the smooth tunnel. His own secret shortcut that he’d discovered all by himself. He wanted to beat the other clambering pups eager to see the war boys to pepper them with questions. Nitrus was small, smaller than other pups his age, but what he lacked in size he made up for with an enviable quickness. His boots hit the dusty stone of the lower corridors as he shot out of the tunnel and stumbled, having forgotten in his excitement to put his hands out to slow his descent. He stood, catching his breath for a moment. Then he heard the voices.

Hollering, shouting, cursing. War boys laughing and congratulating one another. Dozens of boots coming up the corridor toward Nitrus who stood in place, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, eyes wide. The din rose to a roar as they came around the corner and into view, a solid mass of white bodies holding wheels. Nitrus could see that some of the boys had been injured, but their wounds were minimal and he felt relief that they would only require a quick bandaging or sewing from the Organic. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, not Lug or Slit or _anybody_ , but when Nitrus lay awake at night he was ashamed to feel scared to go to Valhalla. Everyone knew it was the highest calling, but Nitrus was pretty convinced that it would just hurt, a lot. 

War boys parted around him like a stone in water as they headed past to the V8 room. He tried to look up at the faces and make sense of who was who amidst the sea of motor grease and scars but they all blended into one. He stood on his tip toes as hands patted his head or nudged him affectionately - they were used to him being the greeting party - and found himself getting frustrated. Nux and Slit, where were they? He moved from side to side, eyes scanning, and then suddenly he was face to face with a hulking abdomen covered in dozens of raised white scars. Slit!

“‘Ey! You little shit, Nitrus!” Slit squatted, eye level with him. “What you doin’ here? You’re in the way.” Slit narrowed his odd colored eyes at him and Nitrus clamped his hands over his mouth, trying not to giggle. “Think that’s funny, yeah?” and he shrieked as Slit grabbed him and swung him effortlessly up onto his broad shoulders, a feral smirk on his stitched face.

Nitrus whooped and raised one fist in the air and held onto Slit’s neck with the other. He felt a hand tug his boot and looked down to see Nux grinning up at him. “Hey Nux!” he cried happily, swinging his legs a little too exuberantly and kicking Slit. “You fucker!” Slit squeezed his legs where he held them with his hands. “Keep that up and you ain’t gettin’ to hold the wheel.”

From behind Slit, Nux wiggled the wheel in his hands and winked at Nitrus. 

They followed the others around the corner and into the V8 room. Nitrus stuck his tongue out at the pups who were coming in on their heels, jealously glaring up at him. A few of the bolder pups tugged on Slit’s pants but he ignored them as the three passed a row of blood bags and war boys collapsing into exhausted heaps. Slit stopped and swung Nitrus into his arms, placing him back down on the ground and sat, tired, on the stone slab by the wheel wall. 

“Should’ve seen it, Nitrus.” Nux said, pacing excitedly. “Buzzards didn’t know what hit ‘em!” his blue eyes were bright as he made a crushing motion with his fist. “Brought back loads of guzzoline. Loads!”

“Yep,” Slit put his arms behind his head and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. “no thanks to Nuts here.”

Nux laughed, and Nitrus looked from one to the other, hanging on every word, his eyes wide and mouth open in a grin. Nux shook his head. “You’re such a shit.” and he kicked Slit with his boot, who growled and opened one eye. “Nux, hey, hey. Nux,” Nitrus tugged on Nux’s pant leg. “Can I hold the wheel now?”

“Sure kid.” Nux handed it to him and he clutched it, white knuckled, his eyes taking in every detail. Ignoring the other pups he turned and grabbed a fistful of Slit’s pants, climbing up with his free hand, the other a death grip on the wheel. Refusing to relinquish it, he struggled for a moment before Slit grabbed him by the seat of his pants and yanked him up into his lap, grumbling. Content, Nitrus made himself comfortable and turned to look at Slit. “How many did you kill, Slit? Huh? Lot’s I bet! So many!”

Slit laughed. “Tons.”  


“By exploding them?!” Nitrus cried, hopeful, his small hands holding the wheel against his chest. 

Nux and Slit burst into laughter and he looked between them. “What?”

“Time for you to get your ass outta here.” Slit said, and Nitrus realized that the V8 room was emptying, the war boys eager for a meal. “Aww,” he started, looking down at the wheel in his hands. “can I come with you guys?” but he already knew the answer. Pups ate separately, just as they slept separately from the boys in smaller, closer quarters. Slit nudged him and he sighed, sliding off the end of the lancers knees onto the floor.

“You wanna hang it up for me?” Nux asked, and motioned to the wheel. Nitrus’ eyes grew so big he worried they would pop out of his head. “Yeah?” he breathed, and Slit stood from the stone slab and lifted him under the armpits, holding him in the air in front of the wheel wall. Nux pointed. “Right th--”

“I _know_ which one!” he cut Nux off, Slit laughing, and reverently placed the wheel on it’s pin, biting his lip in concentration and trying to keep his hands as steady as he could. Satisfied, Slit brought him back down to the floor. 

In the faint, grey light Nitrus watched as his heroes made the sign of the V8. His green eyes travelled over their large bodies and he marvelled at their strength, their height. He looked longingly at the array of scars and mods that covered their rough white skin like a roadmap and raised his tiny arms with them in solidarity to their idol, to their Immortan. Someday, _he_ would be a driver. Or maybe he’d be a lancer, like Slit. Someday he would be big and strong and tall, and he’d remember the war boys who were nice to him.

Someday.

________________________________________________________________________

 

“Slit? _Slit!"_

Nitrus shrinks away, nervous, as Slit cracks a bleary red eye open and glares, confused. 

“Nitrus? What the fuck?” and Slit is sitting up, his freshly painted torso so white in the darkness.

“I…” Nitrus tries to speak, his throat is tight and hard and he has to swallow first. “I had a nightmare.”

Slit drags a hand across his face and groans, his brows coming down low over his fierce dark eyes. “So? What the hell you even _doin’_ in here? You know you’re not allowed in here, kid.” 

Nitrus shuffles his feet in the stone dust on the floor, embarrassed. All around them are the bunks of the war boys, hundreds of bodies in the grips of slumber, exhausted and spent from raid day. He knows, he _knows_ he’s not allowed, but Lug wouldn’t wake up when Nitrus shook him, whispering frightened in his friends ear. When he stood up and gingerly stepped around the bodies of the pups around him in their snoring pile, he could only think of one person to go to in a world without mothers.

“I’m scared.” his shame is palpable. “I was on fire, I was...I was going to V-valhalla.” and his voice cracks on the word, making him tuck his chin toward his chest. 

Moments pass before he hears a sigh. “C’mere.” Slit whispers, and Nitrus feels arms lifting him and he can’t believe it, _he can’t believe it_ , Slit is letting him in his bunk and Nux is there too and just _wait_ until he tells Lug tomorrow!

“Now lay down ‘n be quiet,” Slit rumbles, “shit.” He gently shoves him down between himself and Nux, who stirs in his sleep. Nitrus squeezes his eyes closed tightly, his little body shaking. He’ll go to sleep, he’ll show Slit that he can listen, he can be good. He can, he can.

It’s quiet for a while, and then, “Valhalla, huh?” and Nitrus opens his eyes. Wasn’t he supposed to be quiet? Slit is inches from his face, a hulking presence in the dark that should be menacing but is only comforting. “Yeah.” he sticks his bottom lip out and looks away. 

“You’re not goin’ there for a long time.” Slit says. “Stupid thing to worry ‘bout. And anyway, it ain’t scary. It’s shiny. Real shiny.”

“How d’you know?” Nitrus whispers, and he holds his breath, because if _Slit_ doesn’t know, he’s going to be scared forever. Slit, who didn’t tell anyone when he went soft under the Organics hands when he broke his ankle. Slit, who let’s him ride on his shoulders and showed him how to make a bomb and gave him his Aqua Cola. No, Nitrus didn’t know about love but he knew about warm and safe and a belly full of food and Slit was all of those things.

“Shit, didn’t Nux tell ya? I know everything.” and Slit grins at him, the smile lifting all the way to his eyelids, crinkling at the edges where the staples stretch.

Nitrus releases his breath and smiles shyly. “‘kay.” he snuggles down and pulls his knees up to his chest, his hands tucked under his chin. He can feel the warmth of Nux at his back and listens to the soft breathing of all the war boys around him. He knows he can’t stay here, that in an hour or so he will have to step over their bodies and tiptoe through the bunks back to the other pups to take his place. For now, though, he simply lays awake and pretends that this is his life, every night, and that he isn’t sometimes hungry and cold and feeling sad things.  


Slit is nearly asleep when he feels Nitrus shift against him, his small body so foreign where he is used to Nux. “Slit?” the pup whispers tentatively into the dark, his sweet breath fanning softly against his face. “Hn?” he mumbles in question, hardly coherent.

There’s a second before Nitrus answers him, and when he does his voice is in the hands of sleep. “When I grow up, I’m gonna be just like you.”

Slit smiles.


End file.
